Trade News | 27 Aug 2009 : A steep decline in shipments of printer, copier and multifunction (MFP) products in the first half of 2009 is likely to spur vendors and resellers to concentrate on managed print services.Latest figures from technology research specialist Gartner show shipments down nearly 25% in the first half of the year. There is no sign of a recovery in the second half, with Gartner predicting a double-digit decline which "in the worst case scenario could hit 30%".
Gartner senior analyst Todd Prabhakar said that, with credit for investment in new hardware and reduced budgets limited, businesses were holding on to existing equipment, "hampering new sales and impacting revenues for the print vendors".
Prabhakar expects an increase in vendors "widening their document management software and services capabilities to help reduce and better manage costs". With hardware spend frozen, vendors were looking at alternatives such as managed print services to increase revenue. "Vendors must sell services to businesses that will help them better control costs," he said.
Gartner's figures were published at the same time as HP's results for the third-quarter to 31 July, which showed a 23% fall in overall printer unit shipments and a huge 42% decline in commercial printer unit shipments.
Prabhakar's comments chime with recent observations by market researcher Photizo, which reckons that over 50% of all devices will be covered by managed print services contracts. Photizo sees Europe overtaking the US to become the largest market for managed print services by 2013.
* Neil Dover, IPG and ISS product manager at HP distributor Clarity, said the Irish market was following the downward trend in shipments identified by Gartner, adding that a recovery appeared unlikely until the middle of next year.
He agreed that MPS was "helping quite a bit" as HP started to try and take on copier vendors in the services arena. "HP has targeted a number of resellers that are qualified to promote the managed services piece," he told Irish Computer, "and it is working very closely with them."